Dumping-car.



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DUMPING GAR. APPLICATION FILBDYMAY 7,1908.` 925,792, Patented June 22, 1909. I 3 SHEETS-SHEET l. 1^ T 5 LVZKR 9 11 7 gl" f @am 1' t l=- Cf 1 r. n .o`: um 6 H l K l It 32 J] 3453 33 "I`I`/\\\\ h Qi K ag? zw'amyww G. P. ASTROM.

DUMPING CAB..

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 7,1908.

925,792. Patented June 22, 1909.

' Witnesses 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.v

` A @nvm/tot i C. P. ASTROM.

DUMPING GAR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 7,1908.

Patented June 22, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTOE.

CARL P. ASTROM, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO M. H. TREADWELL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

DUMPING-CAR To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL P. As'rnoit, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain ne\Y and useful Improvements in Dumping- Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact speciii ation This invention relates to dumping cars, and has especial reference to a controlling system for motor actuated dumping cars whereby a whole train of cars can be simultaneously controlled from one point, without the necessity of having the controlling devices on each car separately operated, as has heretofore been the common practice.

Theinvention will be herein described in connection with slag or cinder cars, such as are used at blast furnaces and foundries for conveying molten slag. It is the custom to make up these cars in trains which are pulled by a locomotive to a dumping place and there the motors on each ar are started independently to discharge the contents and then restore the car bodies to normal position. There is considerable danger to the operatives in this procedure, because the molten slag or metal is likely to run over and many accidents have happened by reason of the necessity of having to operate each car separately.

According to this invention l have provided a controlling system for dumping cars whereby an entire train of cars might be controlled by the engineer on the locomotive so that it will be unnecessary to give attention to individual cars except such as is necessary for purpose of adjustment. ln carrying out the invention, l preferably employ fluid pressure actuated motors for operating the car bodies, which can be conveniently operated by steam from the locomotive, or by compressed air and these motors are supplied from one or another of two train pipes leading the length of the train. The train pipes are connected with the boiler or compressed air tank, a valve being provided at the unetion to admit the pressure to one or the other of these train pipes and thereby sin'iultaneously admit power to the respective motors to start the car bodies. ln conjunction therewith automatic devices are preferably provided for cutting otl' the pressure to stop the motors after a predeter- Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led May 7, 1908.

Patented .Tune 22, 1909.

Serial No. 431,342.

mined movement has taken place, either in moving the car bodies to dumping position or in returning them to normal position.

The invention is shown herein in connection with cinder or slag cars wherein the car body may be moved in either direction from normal position to discharge, and adjustable connections are provided for determining the direction in which the car bodies will be operated, the operation of the car bodies themselves being controlled by a single main distributing valve after the adjustn'ients have once been made.

The invention further has reference to the provision of a turbine actuated car body, and to means whereby the reversals of movement of the car body may be secured without. reversing the direction of the turbine.

The invention further contemplates improvements in the arrangement and location of parts and in the detailed construction of mechanism all of which will be more fully understood in connection with the description of the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure l is a view partially in diagram of a dumping car embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the actuating mechanism of a car body; Fig. 3 is an elevation of Fig. 2; Fig. et is a plan view of a train made up of dumping cars embodying the invention; Fig. is a detail View of the reversing valve; Fig. (3 is a detail View of one of the automatic stop valves; and Fig. T is a detail view of a spring check valve.

As herein shown, each car comprises an underframe l having pedestals Q at each end on which the car body is supported, the car body 3 herein being of the well known tilting and bodily movable type capable of discharging on either side of its normal upright position. The car body 3 consists of a ladle or body supported in a bail dcwhich bail carries a trunnion 5 supported on a track G to roll and simultaneously tilt the car body laterally to either side of the normal center position. In order to tilt the car body a gear T is rigidly attached to the trunnion 5 and rolls on a fixed rack 8. The trunnion also carries a worm gear 9 which is operated by a worm shaft 10 having bearings in the pedestals The worm shaft l0 is driven by a gear ll meshing with intermediate gear l). and the latter being driven by a gear 13 carried by a driving shaft 14. The driving shaft 14 is reversible so as to be driven in either direction, according to the direction in which the cai body is to be moved.

15 represents a turbine which is supplied by pipe 16 and exhausts through a pipe 17. The turbine always rotates in one direction, and between it and the shaft 14 is interposed a reversing clutch 18 splined to the turbine shaft 19 and driving one or the other of the idlers 20, 21 loosely7 mounted on shaft 19 and both meshing with a beveled gear 22 keyed to shaft 14. The turbine is herein assumed to rotate to the right as shown by the arrows in Fig. 1, and when the idler 21 is clutched to the shaft 19, the car body will be moved to the right, and when the idler is clutched to the shaft 19, the car body will be moved to the left.

The clutch 18 is automatically moved by the actuating pressure to clutch idler 20 or 21 according` to the position of the main controlling valve 26 which has a passage 2T adapted to be connected to the main supply pipe 28 leading' from the boiler or compressed air tank 29 to one or the othei of the two train pipes 30, 31. These train pipes 30, 31 extend the length of the train and will be connected from car to car by flexible couplings in the usual manner. On each car, the pipe is connected by a pipe 32 with an automatic piston valve 33 containing a piston 34, and from the other side of the valve 33 a pipe 35 leads to power operated reversing motor 36, containing piston 37 which is connected by a rod 38 with a clutch lever 39. Also from pipe 31 there are similar connections by pipe 32 through a valve 33 and thence by pipe to the reversing motor 36 to the opposite side of piston 37. The valves are automatic stop valves which are actuated by a roller 40 forming an extension of the worm gear 9. The pistons 34 each have stems 42 to the upper ends of which are connected cani levers 43 pivoted on the car frame at 44. Also pivoted to the stems 42 are cam levers 45 having slotted connection with pins 46 on the car frame. It will be noticed that one of the cam levers 45 (one on the right in Fig. 1) is disconnected from its pin 46, while the left hand lever 45 is connected. The disconnection of one of these levers 45 determines the side on which the car body is to be dumped, and the right hand lever 45 being herein shown as disg connected, causes the car body to dischargel toward the right.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view in which a motor 15 and its connected parts, including the shaft 14 and the gears 12, 13 have been displaced so as to permit the operation to be more clearly understood. It will be remembered that the gear 12 in Fig. 1 meshes with the gear 11. In the position shown in F ig'. 1, the car body is in normal upright posit-ion and by connecting the pipe 28 with the pipe 30 the car body will dump to the right. The connecting of pipes 28 and 30 admits pressure to the right hand train pipe 30 and thence through the pipes 32 on each car to the automatic stop valves 33. The pressure being admitted under piston 34 causes it to rise and thereby lift the cam lever 43 into the path of the roller 40, the right hand lever 45 being disconnected as before stated. The lifting of piston 34 con# iiects pipes 32 and 35, thereby admitting pressure into the reversing motor 36 under piston 37. throwing the clutch 18 into engagement with the idler 21 and also connecting pipe 35 with the main supply pipe 16 of the turbine motor 15. This starts the turbine and through the gears 22, 21, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 7 and 8 the car body is moved to the right in Fig. 1 and simultaneously tilted. This movement continues until roller 40 strikes the right hand cam lever 43 which has been lifted into the path of roller 40 by the piston 34. The roller 40 when it reaches the lever 43 depresses it and thereby the piston 34 cutting olf the pressure through right hand pipe 32 from pipe 35 and stopping the motor. The same action takes place in each car, and it will be seen that suoli dumping movements are all controlled by the valve 26. Then the car bodies are to be returned from either discharge position, the valve 26 is turned to connect pipe 28 with pipe 31, whereupon the pressure through pipe 31, left hand pipe 32, left hand stop valve 33 moves piston 34 and the left hand lever 45 connected therewith in the path of roller 40. The movement of piston 34 by the pressure through the left hand pipe 32 also connects pipe 32 with pipe 35 and admits pressure to the other side of piston 3T, moving it so as to connect pipe 35 with the supply pipe 16 and also unclutcliiiig the idler 21 and clutching t-lie idler 2O to the turbine shaft 19, thus reversing the movement of the car body and causing it to move inward. As soon as the roller 40 strikes the left hand lever 45 (which was lifted in the path of roller 40 by the pressure from pipe 31), the left hand piston 34 is thrown downward thus causing piston 34 to cut off pipes 32 and 35 and stop the motor, the parts being so timed as to cause this to happen when the cai body is at the center.

Incase it is desired to discharge the car body to the left in Fig. 1, the left hand lever 45 will be disconnected at 46 and the right hand lever 45 connected to its pivot 46 so that when the valve 26 is thrown to connect pipes 28 and 31, the car body will discharge to the left. It will be obvious that one or the other of levers 45 must be disconnected iii order to stai't the car body from the center since if both levers be connected the pressure cannot get by the piston 34 of valves 33, which it must do in order Piston 37 is thereby moved to pass through pipes 35 and motors 36 to the main supply pipes 16.

In order not to require such large pipes and not to cause too sudden a fall of pressure in the boiler, each of pipes 30, 31 on each car is provided with an automatic check valve 50 shown in detail in Fig. 7, each valve consisting of a piston 51 moving against a spring 52 by means of pressure through pipe 30 acting from either side to first shift a movable plug S, and then lift the valve. By means of this valve the cars can be coupled up from either end, and will work automatically in succession when power is turned into the train pipes. rl`he tension of spring 52 is adjustable by means of a screw so that the piston 5l will not be lifted until the pressure on the entering side has reached a predetermined amount. By providing each of the train pipes on each car wit-h a check valve of this character, the pressure will not open valve 5l to pass to the next car until it has attained su'tl'icient pressure on one car to operate the motor of that car, as the automatic valve 33 and motor 3G will open easier than the check valve 51. diere the check valve 51 is used, the cars of a train will be operated successively, the timing depending upon the particular adjustment of the valves 51. ln this manner one car need .not commence to operate until the preceding car has finished and cut ott' its own supply, so that it will not be necessary to provide boilers or compressed air tanks of a capacity to operate all of the turbine motors at once, as would be the case if the automatic check valves 51 are not used. ln Figs. 5 and 6, the details of the valves 33 are shown and it will be seen that the pistons are stopped by abutments, leaving space for the pressure to actuate them when admitted at one or the other end.

While l have shown and described the invention as applied to slag or cinder cars, l do not wish to-be understood as restricting the invention to any particular type of lar as it will be obvious that the invention will be advantageous when applied to ordinary dumping cars used in construction works or railroad building, or wherever it may be desired to save time and labor by operating a plurality of cars at once. As applied to cinder cars used at blast furnaces and foundries where a number of cars containing molten slag or metal are made up into a train, theY invention has a number of advantages among which are the entire avoidance of injin'ies of the man operating the cars by reason of being burned by the molten metal. This has frequently happened because it has been necessary to operate each car separately, and also to stop the train while the cars` were being dumped. but with this invention it is not necessary as the entire train can be controlled by the engineer on the locomotive without stopping the train.

Modifications and changes in the specilic form of apparatus herein shown may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, l declare that what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. The combination with ay plurality of dumping cars, and a tluid pressure actuating motor for each car-body, of means for controlling said motors from a distance, and means for automatically causing said motors to be actuated in succession.

2. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars, and a tluid pressure actuating motor for each car-body, of a source of l'luid pressure, connections therefrom to the respective motors, means for controlling said motors, and fluid pressure controlled means whereby said motors act successively.

3. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars, and motor means for independently actuating each car-body, of means controlling the starting of each motor, independent stopping devices for each motor acting to stop each motor after a predetermined movement, and means on each car whereby the motors automatically act in succession.

t. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars and a motor for independently actuating each car body to dumping position and for returning it to normal position, of means for controlling the movements of the car bodies in both directions, and automatic means whereby one motor operates after the preceding one has stopped. 5. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars, and a motor for independently actuating each car-body to dumping position and returning it to normal position. of means having a plurality of positions for controlling the movements of the car-bodies in one or the other direction according to its position, and a plurality of automatic devices on each car controlling the motor of the succeeding car.

(3. The combination with a source of A[luid pressure, of a plurality of dumping cars, a lluid pressure motor on each car for independently actuating each car-body, connections between said source oit' `[luid pressure and the car-body motors, and means controlling said connections whereby to move the far-bodies in either direction without reversing the motors.

T. The combination with a source of tluid pressure, of a plurality of dumping cars, a fluid pressure actuating motor for each farbody, a plurality of connections from said source of fluid pressure to each motor, and means controlling one or the other of said connections whereby to reverse the car bodies without reversing the motors.

8. The combination with a locomotive having a source of iluid pressure, of a plurality of dumping cars, a fluid pressure actuated motor for each car-body, a plurality of connections between the source of fluid pressure and each motor, a controlling valve on the locomotive for admitting pressure to one or the other of said connections to move the car-bodies, and an automatic valve on each car in each of said connections for controlling` the motor of the succeeding car.

9. The combination with a source of fluid pressure, of a dumping car, a rotary Huid pressure actuatingl motor for the car body, a plurality of connections from said source to said motor, means for connecting` one or the other ot' said connections with said source to start the car-body in one or the other direction, and means for stopping the car-body after a predetermined movement by automatically cutting oli0 the fluid pressure through the active connection.

10. The combination with a source of fluid pressure, of a plurality of dumping cars, a rotary fluid pressure actuating' motor for each car-body, a plurality of connections Jfrom said source to the respective car-body motors, means for connecting one or the other' of said connections with said source to start the motors, means actuated by each motor after a predetermined movement for automatically cutting oil the power from that motor through the active connection, and means whereby reversal of the valve reverses the movement of the carbodies through the other connection without reversing the motors.

11. The combination with a source of fluid pressure, of a plurality of dumping cars, a rotary fluid pressure actuating motor for each car-body, a plurality of connections trom said source to the respective car-body motors, means connecting one or the other of said connect-ions with said source to start the motors, means actuated by each motor after a predetermined movement for automatically cutting` off the power from that motor through the active connection, means whereby reversal of the valve reverses the movement of the car-bodies through the other connection, and means :t'or automatically cutting off the power from each motor when the car-bodies have moved a predetermined movement in the opposite direction.

12. A fluid pressure controlling system for actuating a car-body comprising a source of fluid pressure, a plurality of supply connections from said source to a motor, means adapted to connect one or the other of said connections with said source, a motor adapted to be supplied by either of said connections, and a valve in each connection connected to be opened by pressure and closed i b a movinO' aart after a oredetermined Y e l l movement of the motor.

13. The combination with a car-body mounted to move in opposite directions, of an actuating motor, means whereby the niotor moves the car body in one or the other direction, means controlling the application oiE power to the motor, and automatic means controlled by said manual means to be set to stop the motor after a predetermined movement.

1-1. The combination with a car-body mounted to move to and from dumping position, of a motor, means whereby said motor reverses the movement of the car-body, means for controlling the motor to start the car-body in either direction, and means automatically set to stop the car-body after a predetermined movement.

15. The combination with a car-body mounted to move to and from dumping position in opposite directions, of a motor, means whereby said motor reverses the movement of the car-body, means for controlling the motor to start the car-body in either direction, and means adapted to be automatically set upon application of power to start the motor for stopping the car-body after'a predetermined movement.

1G. lThe combination with a source of power, of a plurality of dumping cars, each comprising a car-body mounted to move to and from dumping position, a motor for operating each car-body, means whereby each motor reverses the movement of its carbody, means for controlling said motors to start the car-bodies, and means adapted to be automatically set upon application of power to start the motors for stopping the carbodies after a predetermined movement.

17. The combination with a car-body mounted to move to and from dumping position, of an operating motor, means for reversing the movement of the car-body,1neans t'or controlling the motor to start the carbody in either direction, separate means for stopping the car-body at the ends of its movement, one of said means comprising a device adapted to be automatically set upon application of power to startthe motor, for cutting off the motive power after a predetermined movement.

18. The combination with a dumping carbody mounted to move to and from dumping position, of a motor movable in a single direction, reversing driving gear between the motor and the car-body, a reversing controlling device for the motor, and means whereby the operation otA said controlling device in one or the other direction automatically operates said reversing driving gear to actuate the car-body in a corresponding direction.

1f). The combination with a plurality of power conductors connected with a common source, and a controlling device for connecting one or the other of' said conductors with said source, of' a motor adapted to be connected with said source of supply, a car-body actuated by said motor, a reversing gear between said motor and said car-body, and a power actuated motor controlling said reversing gear, said motor being actuated in one or the other direction according to the position of said controlling device.

20. The combination with a dumping carbody, of a fluid pressure turbine actuating motor, and means for reversing the car-body without reversing the turbine.

2l. The combination with a dumping carbody, of a fluid pressure turbine actuating` motor, means for reversing the carbody without reversing the turbine, and a reversible fluid pressure operated motor for operating said reversing means.

22. The combination with a dumping carbody, of a fluid pressure turbine actuating motor, means for reversing the car -body without reversing the turbine, and a reversible fluid pressure operated motor for operating said reversing means and admitting pressure to the turbine.

23. The combination with a dumping carbody, of a fluid pressure turbine actuating motor, means for reversing the carbody without reversing the turbine, a reversible fluid pressure operated motor for operating said reversing means and admitting pressure to said turbine, and means for controlling said reversing motor to operate the car-body.

24. The combination with a source of power, and a plurality of coupled dumping cars each having a power operated actuating motor, of a single means for controlling said motors, and means automatically causing said motors to be actuated successively from a distance.

25. The combination with a source of fluid pressure, and a plurality of coupled dumping cars each having a fluid pressure actuating motor, of a single controlling means for controlling said motors, and means automatically causing said dumping cars to be actuated successively from a distance.

26. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars, and a fluid pressure actuating motor for each car-body, of' means for controlling said motors from a distance, and means disposed on one or more cars for automatically causing said motors to be gttuated in succession.

27. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars, and a fluid pressure actuating motor for each car-body, of means for controlling said motors from a distance, and automatic means disposed on one or more cars whereby the instants of initial actuation of said motors occur at different times.

2S. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars. and a fluid pressure actuating motor for each car body, means for supplying fluid pressure for said motors, said motors being connected with said pressure supplying means in succession, and means for controlling said pressure supplying means at a distance from said cars.

29. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars, and a fluid pressure actuating motor for each car-body, of means for controlling said motors from a distance, and means including a mechanically controlled valve on one or more cars for causing said motors to be automatically operated in succession.

30. The combination with a plurality of dumping cars, and a vfluid pressure actuating motor for each ear-body, of means for controlling said motors from a distance, and means including an automatically operated valve on one or more ears for causing said motors to be automatically operated in succession.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CARL P. ASTROM.

Tit-nesses JULIAN S. lVoos'rnn, GEO. A. HOFFMAN. 

